The Durham County Board of Commissioners and the Durham Area Board of Mental Health met Monday to discuss the future of mental health care in the county and whether to hire a new director of mental health.
Since the state Legislature called for a reform of North Carolina's mental health system last year, following a U.S. Justice Department civil rights investigation into the quality of care for the mentally ill, local mental health boards and county governments have been forced to consider redesigning their own mental health care systems.
MaryAnn Black, chair of the county commissioners, said the county must decide whether to take direct control of its mental health services itself, join with neighboring counties to run a multi-county system or leave it in the hands of a somewhat independent agency like the mental health board--the governing body for the Durham Center, which provides services for the mentally ill. That decision must be reported to the state by Oct. 1.
Black added that there are still many financial issues to be discussed with the local delegates to the state Legislature.
Durham's director of mental health, Steven Ashby, resigned in January, prompting the question of whether to hire an interim director or immediately begin a search for a new permanent director.
At Monday's meeting, members of the mental health board said they want to search for a permanent director "to have a good person to come in and lead us through these stormy waters ahead of us," said Black, the commissioners' representative on the board.
But Black and the other commissioners told the mental health board that because of the potential reorganization, the position might be eliminated before a new director's term is complete, and an interim directorship for six months or one year would be a more natural position to offer.
"I think the problem with that is... we don't know what kind of plan we have after that," commissioner Becky Heron said.
The commissioners also encouraged the mental health board, if it persists in seeking a new permanent director, to include more representatives on the search committee.
Under Ashby's leadership, the Durham Center came under fire last year for its handling of funds, and the state even threatened to take over its operations in April.
IN OTHER BUSINESS: The commissioners met in private to consider an economic development issue. Black said they discussed the question of whether to offer financial incentives to attract a company to relocate in Durham, but the issue was not resolved, and she declined to elaborate further.
The board will address the question again this morning at a retreat to discuss their long-term vision for the county. But commissioners predicted that they would also discuss how to tighten spending after Gov. Mike Easley, facing his own budget crunch, decided to hold onto reimbursement payments from the state to local governments.
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